Four

Yours Sincerely

BY Four, September 17, 2012

There’s a real honesty to Hana Pesut’s photography. The images are unassuming, shot with lightness of touch and a great sense of humour. If you need proof, take a look at Pesut’s series Switcheroo, where two people switch clothes to great dramatic effect; or be smitten with the shots of Dyamond the Italian Greyhound. Pesut herself is well aware of how precious all these moments are as she hopes “to inspire others to take more photos in their day to day life”. We talked to the Canadian photographer about capturing the ‘little moments’ in life and playing dress-up with a willing participant.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I grew up in a small town in the mountains in Canada. My dad taught me a lot about photography just by always carrying a camera around. I picked up that same habit and in my early 20’s I borrowed a friend’s Hasselblad (medium format camera), fell in love and that’s when I started to take photography more seriously.

How did the Dyamond series happened? 
Dyamond is my friend Paul’s dog and I had just moved into a new studio and thought she would be a great subject so I asked if I could shoot her and he brought some of her outfits. They have been dressing her up since she was a pup so she’s really good about it. Paul has this really great collection of vintage glasses so I thought it would be fun to see if she would pose wearing some of them. It started there and then I just started dressing her in whatever we had available. She’s such a good sport!

You talk on your website about capturing ‘little moments’, which are always the most intimate and vulnerable. How do you gain trust?
I’m still trying to figure that out but I feel it really helps to shoot in a comfortable environment and not to put too much pressure on the model to pose or look a certain way but just let them be themselves and wait for the moment to happen.

We love Lenny and Harry, the first dog ‘switcheroo’.
Would we see more of these in the future?
I would love to take some more I just need to find some dogs that will sit still and wear clothes, know any?

You have an interest in music too, any other secret talents?
I used to be pretty good at basketball, I’m retired now though.

And finally, do you have a dog yourself? 
I don’t have a dog right now but I consider my mom’s dog (Lenny) to be mine. I’m not allowed to have dogs in the house that I currently live in or I would have one. Lenny is a total mama’s boy and follows my mom everywhere, it’s very cute. He also loves to be spooned.

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All photographs courtesy of by Hana Pesut
sincerelyhana.com

Tags Collection, Dyamond, Fashion, Hana Pesut, Personal, Photography, Portrait, Sincerely Hana, Switcheroo, Whippets